


It takes two

by sazanaaraeleven



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi | Fire Emblem: Binding Blade
Genre: F/F, back to the good old femslash fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 13:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8534764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sazanaaraeleven/pseuds/sazanaaraeleven
Summary: I'm pretty sure I'm the only FE6 fan who ever even considered this pairing. Nevertheless, this is happening. This is real. So bear with me for a moment. My second FE6 fic, and the second one that involves clothes theft. It's a surprisingly good plot element, sue me. Cath steals Lalum's clothes, and Lalum, being Lalum, takes a shockingly long time to figure out why.
This fic is dedicated to my dear friend Tae, as a birthday gift, and as a way of saying "thank you" for years of friendship.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shantae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shantae/gifts).



This was a first.

Lalum liked to believe there was a first time for everything. However, she had never expected there would ever be a time where a girl her age would steal her clothes. At first, she didn’t even realize what was going on. But a thief was wandering out of camp with a pile of clothes, and something about it struck her as odd. Didn’t she know this thief? Lalum had seen her scurry around camp from time to time, but didn’t recall ever speaking with her. So, what exactly was going on here…?  
“Excuse me. You’re Cath, right?” As soon as Cath heard Lalum’s voice, she came to a halt. Without turning around, she answered.  
“And what if I am?”  
“I was just wondering… Are those my clothes you’re carrying?” Now Cath turned around, with a surprisingly flat expression on her face, like she wasn’t a thief who’d just been caught in the act.  
“No. These dancer robes belong to Garret, obviously.” It was such a blatant lie that Cath knew Lalum wouldn’t fall for it, but she couldn’t resist messing with the girl.  
“Oh. Alright then, sorry for bothering you!” Lalum smiled apologetically and turned around. It took Cath a moment to process what had just happened. After recollecting herself, she ran after Lalum.  
“Wait, wait, WAIT! I was kidding! These clothes really are yours. I can’t believe you actually fell for such a terrible lie.”  
“Huh? So, wait, these ARE my clothes?” Cath didn’t know what shocked her more: the fact that Lalum didn’t recognize her own clothes or that she didn’t seem even remotely upset that Cath had stolen them. She was relieved to find that Lalum was too much of an airhead to ask why Cath would steal said clothes. Cath sighed deeply. This conversation was probably going to be very tiring.  
“Yes, these are your clothes,” she answered. “I, uh… washed them for you! I was going to surprise you, for, uh… your birthday?” Lalum was being silent, either because she wasn’t buying Cath’s second poor excuse or because she was trying to figure out when her birthday was. “Just… kidding? Ha ha?” Cath attempted, although she didn’t sound too sure. “If it makes you feel better, you’re not the usual target of my thievery. Usually it’s stupid rich people who extort the commoners living under their so-called protection.”  
“Hold on, you were stealing my clothes? What for? I doubt they’d be worth much… you’d be better off stealing my gold. I have quite the nest egg, believe it or not!”  
“That’s what you’re worried about? That I’m not stealing your gold? Shouldn’t you be concerned that I was stealing in the first place?” Lalum paused to think, something Cath didn’t know that ditz was capable of.  
“Hmm…” Judging by her expression, it looked like Lalum was really trying hard to think of something. Cath almost felt sorry for her. “Well, I don’t think you’re the kind of person who steals without a good reason. You’re our ally, right? Lord Roy–” She paused to sigh dreamily. “– My Lord Roy approves of you and vouches for your skill. If my Roy trusts you, then I will, too!” Now it was Cath’s turn to be silent. There were actually people in this army that trusted her, even though she wasn’t as kind as Chad or as battle-savvy as Astore? News to her.  
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but this theft is completely selfish. I am stealing your clothes because I am a bad person.” Lalum shook her head in response.  
“No. I don’t think you’re a bad person. These are my clothes, so I have a right to know the real reason why you’re trying to steal them.” Cath would sooner die than tell Lalum the real reason. She was trying to think of a convincing lie, of a way to shake Lalum off… It was no use, she was drawing a blank. She tried looking away from Lalum, breaking eye contact in embarrassment, but Lalum was following her eyes like a bird of prey. There was only one thing to do. With a sudden and loud yell, Cath threw the clothes she was holding at Lalum… and bolted. Fortunately, Lalum managed to catch all her clothes without any of them landing on the muddy ground. However, by the time she recollected herself, Cath was already long gone. Because it was late and she didn’t know which tent Cath was staying in, she decided to give the whole affair a rest until the next day.

On that next day, Lalum’s desired confrontation had to wait until supper. After collecting her well-earned rations for the day, she went to look for Cath. She wasn’t sitting with the other younger members of the army, like Lugh, Chad, Raigh and Clarine. Clarine, as usual, had forced Rutger, Klein and Dieck to sit around her, like her own group of bodyguards. Three very intimidating bodyguards, two of which looked like they had better things to do than humor some spoiled princess. And yet, they humored her anyway. She wasn’t sitting with the clergy either, for obvious reasons. One of those reasons being Saul. The only woman who managed to sit next to Saul without being hit on was Elen, simply because Saul had given up using his “charms” to seduce her. Elen was simply oblivious to his advances, or those of any man, really. Even Lalum knew why that was. Cath was sitting… with the misfits, surprisingly. People like Garret, Geese, Gonzales, Astore and Hugh. Roy trusted them, Lilina trusted them, but a lot of other people didn’t. She certainly was the odd one out. Such a young girl, sitting with people like that… It was like seeing a 12-year old hang with “the wrong crowd”. Lalum sighed. Guess she wasn’t sitting next to Ekhidna and reminiscing about the islands today.  
She walked over to where Cath was sitting, and sat down at the open spot across from her. Cath did not look up from her meal, clearly pretending not to notice Lalum. The others scooted away from the two young girls, wondering if they were sitting at the wrong table. Or maybe it was because they felt that the upcoming conversation would be quite uncomfortable, and thus didn’t want to eavesdrop.  
“Cath.”  
“Lalum,” Cath answered, again while not looking at the other. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”  
“Come on, don’t be like that!” Lalum was pouting. She was puffing up her cheeks like a child. Lalum kept staring at Cath, but the latter refused to look up from her food. Her pride kept her from telling the truth.  
“What if I danced for you? Would you tell me if I gave you a private, one-on-one dance?”  
“Aren’t all your dances one-on-one? On the battlefield, at least.” Lalum’s stone-cold expression hinted that Cath was completely missing the point. But Cath was a little sour. “Sorry. But it just feels like you’re rubbing salt in the wound.” Without explaining herself further, Cath quickly stuffed the remainder of her food into her face and got up.  
“If you’ll excuse me, I gotta go do stuff and things. Or things and stuff. Whichever you prefer,” she said with her mouth half-full and one foot out the door. Lalum sighed, gave her plate to Gonzales and walked out after Cath. She was already gone by the time Gonzales managed to express his gratitude.

“Cath! Will you please just tell me what’s going on already?” The tone of Lalum’s voice made Cath stop, for reasons she didn’t fully understand herself. This time, she did turn to Lalum, but she looked frustrated.  
“Why do you care so much? So I ran off with a bunch of your clothes. Big whoop! People get their clothes stolen all the time! Especially dancers.” Lalum noticed that Cath’s face was quite red. She walked until she was in front of Cath, and spread out her arms. Considering they were in an open space, it wasn’t the most effective roadblock, but the message was clear. Cath turned around to face her again, and didn’t seem to be too thrilled by Lalum’s persistence.  
“Cath, I couldn’t care less about the clothes. I just want to know why you’re being so weird about this!” Surprisingly, Cath’s face softened, and she smiled weakly.  
“Heh. I am being weird, aren’t I? I guess I should apologize to you, Lalum. I did it on impulse.” The sudden shift in Cath’s attitude was strange, but Lalum was relieved that they were finally getting somewhere.  
“I don’t mind. I promise I won’t tell anyone what happened, so won’t you please tell me?” Cath sighed deeply. Lalum really wasn’t going to let this go, was she? Looks like she had no choice.  
“I… well… Gods, this is embarrassing. I don’t know why I thought I could– Look, the bottom line is, I thought I could maybe do what you do. You know, like… Ugh, I can’t get it across my lips.” Unfortunately for Cath, Lalum didn’t catch on. It needed to be spelled out for her. “I thought I could maybe… dance, like you. I know I’m not as pretty as you, but–”  
“Oh! Is that all?” Lalum suddenly lit up, and it startled Cath. “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
“Why didn’t I… Isn’t it obvious! Because it’s embarrassing! I’m no dancer, I’m a thief! And I’m not even that good… Everyone likes Chad and Astore better! I thought that maybe if I learned how to dance, everyone would like me a little better… and I could be of more use to Roy and his group. I’m sorry, you must think I’m trying to steal your thunder or something.”  
“Cath… do people really say that about you? That you’re unlikable, or untrustworthy… things like that? That’s horrible!” Lalum paused, and suddenly leaned forward to take a closer look at Cath. “Hmm… I think you’re plenty pretty, for what it’s worth. But you do know that it’s not the clothes that make you a good dancer, right? That’s just silly!” Something about being called silly by someone as flighty as Lalum pissed Cath off, but she could get used to being called pretty. Especially by someone as stunning as Lalum. She had a point, though. Cath thought that if she had the right clothes, she could get in the mindset to dance properly, but… that was ridiculous.  
“I don’t know how much talent you have, but hard work never betrayed anyone! When I just started, I made a ton of mistakes… I think despite those mistakes, people liked watching me. And that’s what being an entertainer is all about!”  
“If being an entertainer is about having no shame, then I really am not cut out for it,” Cath answered.  
“Are you calling me shameless? You’re so mean! And stop being so mopey!”  
“Sorry… Look, just forget about it, alright? I’m not as strong as you are.” Perhaps strong wasn’t the word, Cath thought. Maybe Lalum’s carefree attitude was why she was such a good entertainer. It seemed like she took dancing very seriously, though.  
“If you give up now, then you’re right, you aren’t cut out for it. But I don’t think you will! Or at least, I hope you won’t. I could teach you, you know.”  
“Huh?! What? Don’t mess with me!” Cath immediately got defensive again. Lalum smiled. She was like a frightened cat.  
“I’m not. You’re cute chipper, and limber. I think you’d be an excellent student! And don’t worry, all our lessons will be private. It’ll be our little secret!” Private dancing lessons from Lalum… it didn’t sound unappealing to Cath. Even if it turned out she wasn’t any good at dancing, it’d be a good way to kill time. To her own surprise, she didn’t mind being around Lalum that much. She might even be able to get used to her company.  
“… Alright,” Cath said, still slightly pouty. “If you’ll have me even after I tried to steal your clothes, then how can I refuse?”

Ever since that evening, members of the army would sometimes see Lalum and Cath sneak out to the woods at night. No one knew what they were up to, but a popular theory was that Cath was teaching Lalum how to be a thief, something that deeply disturbed Elphin and Ekhidna. When they confronted Lalum about it, she swore it wasn’t that, but didn’t tell them it was actually the other way around. More rumors arose when the two were seen locking arms and giggling to each other, but people quickly lost interest. And while Cath was nowhere near Lalum’s level, she turned out to be quite decent. She never did end up revealing it to the others, though. Instead, she and Lalum continued to hang out and dance together, growing closer every time. To Cath, it was a surprisingly good outcome. Perhaps even the best, she thought as she watched Lalum perform just for her.

**Author's Note:**

> in the middle of reading this, it occurred to me that cath might be a shortening of catherine. that legitimately blew my mind so hard that i had to take a pause to recollect myself.
> 
> ... lalum is still a really weird name, though.


End file.
